The Wind of Freedom
by Lady of Knights
Summary: Marian returns home after her night exploits as the Nightwatchman and discovers Robin in her bedroom. He is like the wind of freedom, and the fragrance of freedom intoxicates her. It is a canonical scene from 2x01 which is written from Robin and Marian's POVs.


Marian returns home after her night exploits as the Nightwatchman and discovers Robin in her bedroom. He is like the wind of freedom, and the fragrance of freedom intoxicates her. It is a canonical scene from 2x01 which is written from Robin and Marian's POVs.

This story is a gift for Penelope Clemence whom I love, admire, and respect. Penelope started this story a few years ago, but, unfortunately, she had no time to finish it. It is a product of her and my work and fantasies.

This story is also a gift for other people whom I love and respect – Coleen561, jadey36, Lady Marianne, Sir Robin of Locksley, Lady Marian of Locksley, Rosalind25, and XCrazyforOncex.

Disclaimer: I don't own BBC's Robin Hood or any of the show's characters. I've no rights to the canonical plots and storylines.

It is also posted at FF where my username is Lady of Knights.

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 **The Wind of Freedom**

 _Knighton Hall_

Darkness blanketed the earth and the town of Nottingham, pervading all the parts of the universe, except for Marian's heart that was singing sweet songs about her undying love for Robin Hood. Robin… The sound of his name sent a thrill through Marian, making her tremble with excitement and anticipation. After the consummation of their love, Marian couldn't bear a thought of losing him again. She was very much in love with Robin, loving him more than ever before.

Dressed as the Nightwatchman, Marian adroitly climbed in through her window and found herself in her semi-dark chamber. Even before she noticed Robin standing in the doorway with his quiver on his back, she could feel his presence with every fibre of her being, or maybe she just anticipated him to come to her tonight. Before looking at him, she felt his smell – the scent of the woods; a rich, warm blend of trees, grass, leaves, flowers, and earth. Marian could breathe in the air of covetable freedom and nature, and it created a sense of exhilaration in her heart.

Marian pushed back her hood and then removed her mask and face-scarf. As she half turned to Robin, she caught a glimpse of a tender smile on his face. She couldn't help but think back to the morning after the night which Robin jestingly called _'The Reign of Love'_ : she had awoken in the morning with a sense of immense victory and great satisfaction, regretting that he had already left and she was left alone with her thoughts and dreams of him. Robin's sigh pulled her out of her reverie.

Marian swiveled and stared at Robin. "And that's all I'm taking off, until you go away," she spoke in a playful manner, an impish smile spreading across her face. She began to light the candles in her room.

An amazed Robin chuckled. He was surprised that she had read his thoughts so easily. For a short moment, he watched her light one candle after another, his eyes roaming over her slender figure. After the glorious night of passion with her, he felt that he had never loved Marian more than he did love her now. He was head over heels in love with her, and that thought became a lascivious surge of blood in his brain. The exquisite perfection and grace of her figure were so tempting that Robin was barely able to put his male desires under control, narrowly escaping the loss of reason.

Robin stepped into the room, leaning against the door and resting his eyes on her face that was now turned to him. "You're a spoilsport, Marian," he responded teasingly. He opened his palm and glanced at the ring in his hand. "What do you make of this?"

He tossed the ring to Marian who had just lit a candle on the mantelpiece. She caught the ring and scrutinized it with interest. "The sheriff 's insignia?"

"We took it off a woman on the way to Nottingham today. And she had men, and they were well trained. It was like a military unit. And she's been granted the sheriff's insignia." Although they were discussing the sheriff, Robin couldn't concentrate as the image of her lighting all these candles entranced him. His heart thumped harder, as if it could tear through his chest, at the thought that she may permit him to stay with her tonight again. The room was semi-dark and appropriate for romance.

Marian turned to light a candle on the shelf behind her. "And what does that mean?"

"Well, I don't know. I was hoping you or your father might know."

Stepping forward and stopping next to Robin, she replied sadly, "I get the feeling we're not too welcome in the corridors of power." She handed the ring back to him.

"Good. Come and join my gang," offered Robin earnestly.

A short silence charged with anticipation stretched between them. He waited, and she mused.

Marian felt her heart fluttering in her breast in the same wild way as it had done when they had been together a few nights ago. A wave of desire washed over her when she detected the lurid flame in Robin's eyes. His charm was a magical concatenation of his charming smile, his boyish features, his playful intelligence, his personal charisma, and his bravery etched into every line of his handsome face. Looking at him, Marian wanted to be in his strong arms and to rest her head against his chest.

The love Marian saw in Robin's eyes overshadowed everything else in the room and took her breath away. She understood now once again that it had always been only love and adoration which she saw in his eyes after his return from the Crusade. How could she doubt his feelings for her? They belonged together and were meant to be together, and nothing and nobody could make them stop loving each other, even if they had to be apart and to live the dangerous lives they had chosen.

There was also anticipation in his eyes: he expected her to escape with him into the woods. She had been dreading this moment, knowing that he would certainly ask her that after their reconciliation. Could she forsake her life and permit Robin to pull her into the green embrace of Sherwood Forest? They could be free from the prejudices of the noble society and from the clutches of evil that gripped Nottingham like a vise. She pictured herself and Robin sitting under their favorite meadow in an embrace and listening to the gentle songs of birds and to the rustling of leaves.

The flame in Robin's eyes flared with a new, fierce heat, and Marian felt again, with all her skin, that captivating _sense of_ _freedom_ , that mystic touch of partnership they shared in their fight against the sheriff, and that love for justice and each other that was an organic part of them. And he stood there silent looking at her with his beseeching eyes, _the wind of freedom_ seemed to invade the room with its deep and vivifying breath, rewarding them with its great companionship and its power.

Freedom in pristine Sherwood Forest… Life with Robin and his gang… The tempting _freedom_ of the woods… Being with Robin meant breathing the fragrance of intoxicating freedom because he was like _the wind of freedom:_ young, strong, impetuous, unstoppable, free from the constraints of the material and mundane world, and almost always blowing in the right direction.

The sound of all these words was like music to her ears. Being free was such a tempting and longed-for sensation for the independent and spirited Marian of Knighton. And yet, she couldn't allow Robin to cajole her into escaping to the woods because of her father, she told herself. Edward was an old and frail man, his health was ailing; he needed comfort and care. Edward couldn't live in the woods with the outlaws, especially not in the winter; Marian would never do anything to cause her father harm.

If she was honest with herself, she feared to let Robin have power and control over her if they lived together in the woods. She did love him with all her heart, but she was afraid of losing her freedom and independence. What would their life would be like? Would he make her stop fighting, expecting her to cook food for Robin and the outlaws, to clean the camp and the kitchen with Much, to do her embroidery, and to run errands for him? Robin and she lived bravely up to their convictions and were united in their efforts to feed the poor and thwart the sheriff's plots against King Richard. It was true that Marian had sealed her devotion to Robin Hood's cause by agreeing to help Robin work against Vaisey, but it didn't mean that she assented to renounce the life of the Lady Marian.

Marian scoffed slightly and averted her gaze from Robin. "In your dreams."

"Wait," said Robin quietly. He pulled her back to him, his heart hammering harder in his chest. She looked up at him, her expression yearnful, and there was a silent question in her eyes. He went on. "Listen." He again paused. He put a hand on either side of her head, drew her closer, and kissed her sweetly on the lips. As he broke the kiss, he murmured, "Did you hear it?"

She arched a brow. "What?"

"That kiss spoke volumes."

Understanding what he was trying to communicate, she flashed him a slight smile. "Did it?" She trailed off, waiting for his reaction. As he nodded, she resumed speaking. "What did it say?"

Robin engulfed her into his arms, and she pressed her head to his chest. He whispered into her ear, "It said... Marian wants to come and join your gang."

She scoffed quietly. "Really? That's not what I heard." She disentangled herself from his embrace and glanced into his eyes woefully. "What I heard was a little voice saying: 'Abandon your home, abandon your father, give up any hope of a normal life and take up arms with a man who thinks resistance is about showing off with a bow'. That is what I heard." She regretted that she had just dashed his hopes, but it was the only way she could act under their difficult circumstances.

"That's not fair." His voice sounded a bit indignant.

"And to do what? To wait for a king who, let's face it, may or may not make it home."

Robin laughs softly, but there was bitterness in his laugh as well. So Marian speculated about their gloomy future if the king didn't return to England! He didn't expect her to have these thoughts.

As the people's hero, Robin naively dreamt of the good day coming when the world would become just and right and all men would be like brothers and women like sisters to each other. Yet, he knew that his dreams would probably never come true, but he still fought for what he believed in – he just couldn't act in any other way. His sense of honor didn't let him simply watch his people suffer, and so he was hard at work with his heart and his head and his bow to make that dream come true.

Nevertheless, Robin mentally limited his fight with Vaisey and his life in the forest with the day of the king's return. He would crush all his enemies then: all the foes of King Richard and all the wicked souls in Nottingham, including Vaisey and Gisborne. Justice would be restored, and the old good England would prosper again, like before the Crusade. King Richard would return to England! He didn't want to try to imagine what could happen to them if his liege died in the Holy Land: he would never become Earl of Huntingdon again, and he would probably never wed Marian.

"What?" asked a puzzled Marian.

He plastered a smile on his face, although thoughts of the king's death distressed him a lot. "So you have been thinking about it, then?"

Marian sighed and smiled moodily at her beloved. These thoughts crept into her mind against her will. Once, already after Robin's return, Sir Edward told her that she and Robin were dreamers, and she couldn't deny that. Their dreams about justice and equality were the greatest thing in all the world of evil and darkness they had to live in due to the tyranny of Prince John, Vaisey, and the likes of them. Nonetheless, Marian wasn't foolish enough to believe that their idealistic dreams would ever realize, although she and Robin were at the battle-front fighting bravely to pave the way for justice so that peace can be established in the land that once belonged to good people and was now wrecked.

Marian was jolted into alertness by the thunderous sound of approaching hoofbeats. As she caught Robin's alarmed gaze, they both rushed to the window and peered out at Guy of Gisborne and a squad of his guards. They watched Guy dismount his black horse and approach the front door of the manor. Instantly, shock and fear permeated them and the entire room, and an awful silence prevailed.

Gisborne began to pound on the front door. "Sir Edward! Marian! Out now!" he roared.

Inside Marian's bedchamber, Robin was trying to make up a plan of Marian and Edward's salvation His blood boiled in rage, and he took an arrow from his quiver. Turning from the window, he picked up his bow, and then peered out again, his face contorted in anger.

Robin made up his mind: he would kill Gisborne right now, making Guy pay for all the evil deeds that the traitor committed. The list of Guy's heinous crimes was long: the man had murdered Robin's father, had oppressed his peasants, had attempted regicide in Acre and had nearly killed him in the Saracen attack, had stolen his lands after his return, and had almost forced Marian into marriage. That was more than enough to kill Guy, Robin mused as he nocked an arrow but didn't draw.

Robin and Marian watched Sir Edward open the door and appear on the front steps. "Sir Guy!" Edward exclaimed. He wasn't able to say anything else as a guard entered the house and pointed a sword at the old man. Edward returned to the manor, and another guard with a torch followed him in.

"Hold him!" Guy's loud voice boomed through the manor.

Understanding swept into Robin's eyes that he couldn't shoot Guy from the window of Marian's bedchamber. He could make a clean shot only if he went downstairs and confronted Guy there. "I'm gonna kill him," he hissed as he began to walk towards the door.

Marian frowned at him. "Oh, shoot first, think later?"

"Even if so," he snapped. He opened the door but paused at the doorway, looking fiercely down the stairs, shaking his head.

Marian could see the single-minded determination plainly written across Robin's face. She didn't want Guy dead and resolved to convince Robin to spare the life of her former unwanted fiancé. Shrugging out of her Nightwatchman's cloak and stepping closer to the door, she questioned, "Do you want my father killed?" She sighed. "Look, if you respect me, you'll do nothing."

Robin looked back at her, his expression teetering between bewilderment and disappointment. Why was she trying to prevent him from killing this immoral bastard? Jealousy stirred in his heart again, for he didn't like to think about Marian – _his almost wife_ – being preoccupied with thoughts of saving Gisborne's life when all that the man deserved was death. Robin saw no peace or happiness ahead for them, if he let Guy live and, hence, allowed him to persist in his attempts to make her his wife. The hero of the woods wanted Guy of Gisborne dead with Cyclopean ferocity.

"Come down now, or I will torch your house!" Guy's furious voice resonated.

At Gisborne's new threat, Robin felt that he couldn't temper his anger anymore. As he started out the door, Marian pulled him back, glaring at him warningly.

"Answer me!" Gisborne's shout came from downstairs.

"Do you respect me?" inquired Marian, looking into Robin's eyes, her gaze softening a bit.

Robin stopped, still looking out the door. He was hesitating now, even though he craved the blood of his worst enemy. When he was a complicated tangle of fretted nerves, Marian always had a divine soothing effect on him. She was the only person who could stop him from murdering Guy, like she had done in the woods when Guy had been tied to a tree and he had been going to kill this traitor.

"Don't keep me waiting!" Guy bellowed in a voice that could bend stone walls.

Marian insistently tugged at the sleeve of Robin's tunic. Robin swung around to face her, reading in her eyes her demand to answer her question, her brows raised in an expression of real annoyance. His resolve for killing Guy tapered off, and he stepped back, relenting and inwardly seething with rage.

"I respect you," asserted Robin, trying to keep his voice clear of the anger bubbling inside him.

She nodded at him gratefully, and he nodded back at her with a tight smile. She exited the bedroom and ran down the stairs, feeling dread fill her whole being at the sound of Guy's menacing voice.


End file.
